Treatment plant for continuous lengthy material in particular for textile materials



Apnl 10, 1962 H. FLEISSNER 3,028,682

TREATMENT PLANT FOR CONTINUOUS LENGTHY MATERIAL IN PARTICULAR FOR TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed Oct. :1, 195a INVENTOR:

HA N S 'FLEISSIVE/Q Unite States This invention relates to processing of materials such as textiles and other continuous lengthy materials, for example, threads, fabrics, twines, rope yarn or the like in Web or strip form. Materials of this type will be referred to generically as fibrous or porous materials hereinafter.

During one of the processing stages the porous material is thoroughly drenched or moistened with a liquid, so that it is. necessary to evaporate the moisture prior to further processing. One form of a known drying apparatus includes a substantially sealed chamber that is provided with inlet and also outlet openings at opposite sidewalls. The wet material is fed through the inlet opening into the interior or" said chamber and within the cham her over the peripheries of a. series of perforated hollow drums and ultimately through the outlet opening of the chamber. Means are provided for heating treatment air within the chamber.

Suitable suction or like means are provided in the chamber for setting up hot air convection currents which are drawn through the porous material and drum perforations into the interior of the drums and ultimately to an exhaust-device. These air currents, in passing through the material, evaporate the liquid and carry along the moisture, so that the material discharged through the.

chamber outlet is substantially dry and ready for further processing.

A serious flaw in the operation of drying apparatus of the kind described is the fact that at the discharge outlet the dry material, instead of passing through the outlet, tends to cling to the last drum in the aforesaid series by the very reason of the suction elrects existing at such outlet or location. This effect results in the accumulation of the material, initially at the discharge end, and ultimately elsewhere on the drum peripheries, thereby seriously impairing the effectiveness of the apparatus.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide means affording guidance and discharge of the material along and from a treatment drum unimpededly and without crumpling or any damage to the treated material.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means avoiding any material accumulations or delays in the run of the latter, thus rendering the processing of the material highly effective and economical.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means engendering many desirable advantages in a simple and economic manner, not only as regards newly constructed treatment apparatus, but also in regard of heretofore existing apparatus, so that the latter may incorporate the present invention readily and rather at a minimum of additional cost.

, In accordance withthe present invention, advantage is taken of the existence of convection currents in the tent treatment enclosure or chamber in order to produce cerrain desired result of bodily lifting the material at its discharge location from engagement of the last drum.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of means affording continuous feeding, transporting and deviating the aforesaid material along a pre-.

determined path in contact with peripheral parts of a plurality or battery of horizontal treatment drums, which have each a perforated surface for the passage of fluid from without through said drums for impingement of said fluid in many streams on said material to be treated and of further means conducive to lifting said material from that drum periphery adjacent the discharge end or chute of a treatment enclosure, whereby the fluid stream or streams are tangentially guided along said latter drum in a direction contrary or angularly to that of the move ment of the material so as to facilitate the separation of the latter from drum contact and the deviation toward said discharge chute which is in communication with the enclosure housing said drum or drums.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide means redounding to a regulated and positively controlled deviation of said material in regard of its contact locations along said perforated drums and at the last drum whence the discharge of the material having the tendency to cling to the peripheral drum surface, is efrectuated.

A further obg'ect of the present invention is to provide means devisin displaceable coverings or shutters in operative connection with the drums, thereby to move said shutters to predetermined locations relative to said drums, so as to maintain contact of the material under treatment with predetermined drum surface parts due to 21 produced tion considered to ether with the accom an in drawin -J P e in which the single figure represents a sectional view of a treatment plant or apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

Re erring now more particularly to the drawing, reference numeral 19 designates the material which is to be treated, for example, dried within a substantially sealed chamber or enclosure 2a. The material may be any porous textile material, as for example, thread, twine, yarn, strip or web as previously stated. Within the chamber 2a there are provided a series of hollow circular cylinrical drums 5, 5a etc. whose axes are disposed in a common horizontal median plane and in parallel relation to one another.

Consecutive'drums are closely spaced in predetermined manner, and moreover, all the drums 5, 5a etc. are spaced apart from the interior walls of the chamber 2a. The wet material 10 is fed through an opening of a sidewall (not shown) of chamber 2a, thence over the peripheries of the drums in a general left-to-right or-semi-circular direction as shown. The material is caused to pass alternately over that semi-circular portion of one drum lying above the median plane and that semi-circular portion of the next drum lying below the median plane, as indicated.

The last drum 5a is located in proximity of an outlet or discharge chute 3 provided in the opposite side wall of enclosure 21:, through which outlet the material is discharged. upper semicircular periphery of drum 5a. Means (not shown) are provided for heating air, vapors, superheated stearn'or othermedium within chamber 2a, and further, suction or'fan means (not shown) are provided within in particular, the material 19 passes over the the chamber, usually within the interior of the drums 5. As a result, convection fluid currents are formed within the chamber as indicated at 11; these currents pass from the exterior of the drums 5 through the porous material through the sieve-like drum perforations 211 into the interior of the drums, and ultimately to suitable exhausts (not shown).

The hot air or like medium, in passing through the material, evaporates the moisture therein and carries along the resultant vapor to the exhaust so that the material discharging through the outlet chute 3 is essentially dry and ready for further processing. The currents are also effective in maintaining the material in engagement with the drum surfaces.

In accordance with the invention, the outlet 3 is in the form of a chute, slide or hopper that tapers from an interior wide-mouth end 6 downwardly and outwardly of the chamber to an opposite narrow-mouth end to the exterior of the chamber. This type of chute construction minimizes temperature and pressure effects of the outside atmosphere. The chute engages the side wall in sealing relation as indicated at 8. The wide-mouth end 6 is closely spaced from the last dmm 5a in the series of drums 5, extending both above and below the aforesaid median plane. In the longitudinal axial direction of the drums 5, the chute 3 is at least coextensive with the drums.

Because of the close spacing of the interior end of chute 3 from the last drum 5a, a narrow channel 6a is provided for the passage of certain fluid currents, such as the current 4a.

The channel or passage 60 is effective to maintain the interior of chute 3 at a lower pressure than exists to the underside of drum 5a. As a result the current 4a, instead of entering the drum 5a from below, passes through such passage 60, impinging on the discharging material portion 100- at the contiguous side or inner surface thereof as indicated. The current 4a lifts the discharging material portion a out of engagement with drum 5a, prevents that portion 10a to cling to it and moreover imparts an impulse thereto in the desired downward and outward direction indicated by arrow A. In effecting such disengagement of the material from the drum periphery, the current passes through and above the discharging material portion llla, and is thereafter drawn through still-engaged material and perforations 212 into the interior of the drum 5a. The passage of the current 4a through the discharging material 10 occurs substantially without loss in thermal capacity so that upon final passage of the fluid into the drum 5a its drying or like capacity is fully utilized.

The described arrangement in many instances is fully effective in providing the desired disengagement without further modifications. However, in the case of heavy webs it is desirable to enhance the aforesaid action of the current 4a.

To this end, there is provided within the last drum 5a, and preferably also in the other drums, one or more impervious semi-circular shutters or sheet members 1 of preshaped configuration that is disposed in spaced and parallel relation to that inner semi-circular portion of the drum periphery which is not supporting the material 10 as shown. The member 1 terminates substantially at the aforesaid median drum plane where it is formed with generally radially outwardly flaring ends or baffles 7 closely spacing said member 1 from the interior wall of the drum 5 or 5a. Currents 4b are drawn through perforations 2b in the lower half of drum 5a into the elongated tubular space 2 between member 1 and the lower interior wall and are pushed or forced generally upwardly therein until closely adjacent to the chute 3, where, owing to a prevailing lower pressure in chute 3, they are drawn through perforations 9 to impinge against the inner face of the discharging material portion 10a,

causing substantially the same effects of disengagement as the outwardly directed fluid current 4a. The currents db pass thereafter through the discharging material portion and ultimately re-enter the drum 5a in the same manner as the current 411, as indicated.

As a further modification the member or shutter 1, instead of being spaced from the interior surface of the drum, may be brought to contact therewith (by omission of ends '7 of shutter I); this arrangement avoids the currents 4b through perforations 2/), but is still effective to improve the action of currents 40.

Thus it is seen that in accordance with the invention, simple and economic means for guiding air currents prevailing in a drying or like chamber have been provided, which guided currents are effective to lift the material during discharge of the latter from the chamber out of engagement with the periphery of the last drum of a series of drums to which the material has the tendency to cling.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been described, it should be understood that other modifications may occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended that these modifications be comprehended within the invention, as defined by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

l. A drying device for materials comprising a housing, a drum having periphery perforated surface rotatably mounted in said housing, suction means in said drum acting on said perforated surface for circulating treatment fluid through said perforations and causing material to be treated to be adhered to said surface during rotation of said drum for transportation of material thereon as the treatment fluid is directed through said material and through said perforations, a discharge chute defined in said housing including a sloping wall disposed adjacent said drum but defining a clearance therewith and located to receive material transported by said drum, means for interrupting said suction means at said perforated surface adjacent said discharge chute including baffle means arranged to direct fluid in a direction outwardly from said drum in the vicinity of said drum at a location above said discharge chute to cause lifting of material from said drum and permit subsequent movement under the influence of gravity of the material down said sloping wall of said discharge chute, said baffle means causing fluid to be directed through said clearance and against said material as it leaves said drum and enters said discharge chute.

2. A drying device for materials according to claim 1, wherein said interrupting means includes a baffle disposed to cover the lower portion of said drum and prevent said suction means from being effective on said perforations at such location, said discharge chute being disposed to receive material from the upper portion of said drum.

3. A drying device for materials comprising a housing, a drum having periphery perforated surface rotatably mounted in said housing, suction means in said drum acting on said perforated surface for circulating treatment fluid through said perforations and causing material to be treated to be adhered to said surface during rotation of said drum for transportation of material thereon as the treatment fluid is directed through said material and through said perforations, a discharge chute defined in said housing including a sloping wall disposed adjacent said drum but defining a clearance therewith and located to receive material transported by said drum, means for interrupting said suction means at said perforated surface adjacent said discharge chute to cause lifting of material from said drum and movement of the material down said sloping wall of said discharge chute, said suction means causing fluid to be directed through said clearance and r against said material as it leaves said drum and enters said discharge chute and to thereafter direct said fluid back through said material and into the perforations of said drum, said interrupting means including a bafiie disposed to cover the lower portion of said drum and prevent said suction means from being efiective on said perforations at such location, said baffle including a wall spaced inwardly from the interior surface of said drum whereby to define a chamber therein, said baflie extending around said drum beyond the location of said sloping wall whereby fluid which is directed through 10 2755513 said clearance is also directed into the space between said bafiie wall and said drum, said discharge chute being disposed to receive material from the upper portion of said drum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Yetter Oct. 20, 1923 Fleissner July 24, 1956 

